


Boys are complicated.

by j_obsessed



Category: Cricket RPF
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Meddling, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Women's Magazines Fucking Suck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24646618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_obsessed/pseuds/j_obsessed
Summary: I guess I missed the angst train that everyone else got on today... But only by a little bit ;) Hope you enjoy <3
Relationships: Jos Buttler/Joe Root
Comments: 49
Kudos: 14





	Boys are complicated.

**Author's Note:**

> To dear @Col_faridi @Cricket_crazy28 who have had to deal with a lot of angst today 😔💓  
> I hope this disgustingly fluffy piece makes you a little happy <3

“Boys are so fucking complicated.”

Joe walks in and throws himself on the bed.

“What? Joey? Are you okay? Do you have a temperature? Have you lost some more screws?” Mark prods at his temple.

“Shush. I’m being serious. Why are boys so difficult to understand?”

“Uh… Joe… you are a boy? I don’t really understand where you’re going with this.”

“I thought Jos liked me.”

“Okay, I’m very pleased to know you have common sense and aren’t blind. Where exactly is the correlation?” Mark is tapping away on his phone as he makes eye contact with the younger, before very carefully sliding his phone into his pocket.

“Well. I’m pretty sure I was very wrong. I wanted to be sure, you know, like, figure out if I was just imagining things, so I was like, looking at some reliable resources-”

“Joe, if you tell me that you went searching on wiki-how for signs that Jos likes you I will nail you in the head with a bouncer next training session.”

A pained expression flies over the young batsman’s face. “Uh, not exactly wikihow, but-”

“Joseph Root, if I open your suitcase right now, am I going to find a Girlfriend magazine?” Joe shoves his face into his pillow and groans. “I can’t believe you. That boy is so gone for you he may as well be on fucking Jupiter. Why are you asking a fucking magazine about it? What did the magazine even say?”

“Well, I qualified for ZERO of the seven signs that a guy likes you. So, yeah. I don’t know, I was always doubting it. But, now I’m pretty convinced Jos doesn’t like me. And he never really has.” The thought makes him want to crawl into his bed and die. Because, well, he wants Jos to like him. Because he really likes Jos.

“Give me the fucking thing, I swear to god Joseph, you drive me out of my mind, why are we even friends-”

“HEY, you’re supposed to be consoling me.”

“I HAVE LITERALLY BEEN TELLING YOU THAT JOS IS IN LOVE WITH YOU FOR THE BETTER PART OF THREE YEARS. NOW SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THE MAGAZINE BEFORE I LOCK YOU BOTH IN A STORAGE CLOSET.”

“Even if you lock us in a storage closet, Jos will find a way to get us out and he’ll be all lovely and great and heroic and I will still be miserable.”

Mark sighs. Joe lets out another noncommittal groan into his pillow, before trudging over to his suitcase, and pulling out a glossy, tragically designed magazine, and slapping it across Mark’s chest, before promptly crawling back into his bed, under the covers. He keeps his eyes just out of the blanket, so he can glare at Mark.

“Okay, first requirement.”

**_ The magazine says that if a person likes you, they should be apprehensive about taking photos with you, and worry about how they look in them. _ **

“Jos and I have more photos together than I do with my ex-girlfriends, ex-friends, current friends, parents, siblings and every team I ever played for.”

“You w-

“Combined.”

Mark’s jaw drops and he looks a little bit like a goldfish. Joe almost laughs. “Wait seriously?! I have literally never seen a single photo where you and Jos are in the same frame without anyone else.”

Joe blinks scrutinisingly at Mark, before unlocking his phone, and clicking into a specific album. He cautiously hands the phone over.

“Oh my god… Joe-”

“Yep. NEXT. Let’s get this over with so I can go back to being miserable.”

“But Joe-”

“I said next.”

Mark sighs deeply. The album consists of more than _four hundred photos_ , all of Jos and Joe. Some, are from each of their Instagram accounts- (Mark recognises them), some from PR, some from random publishers, some selfies, and some that Jos has clearly sent Joe from his own phone. But. That’s not what Mark is so shocked about. Four hundred photos might be slightly insane, but, it’s the actual _photos,_ that leave him feeling as though he’s intruded on something incredibly intimate.

There’s nothing NSFW, or revealing, or dirty. No. If there was, he wouldn’t exactly be surprised, but, there isn’t. It’s just. Sort of beautiful. Three photos stand out to him, and he wonders, how either of these two, survive a minute without each other. Because they look like they are _soulmates._

The first one is post batting in an ICC World T20 match. Mark recognises the photo because it was up on Jos’ Instagram some time ago. They’re both dripping in sweat from the Indian humidity, but Jos has crushed Joe into a hug, both still in the middle of the pitch, still wearing their helmets and batting gear, both with their bats in hand. There’s a glimpse of Joe’s face, hidden behind the grill, but he’s smiling, his sunshine grin, as he’s wrapping his arms around his batting partner. They just look happy. It doesn’t even matter that they won the match. That's not even the point. 

The second one is after Jos’ final catch off Shami’s edge from behind the stumps, all the way back in 2014, in his debut match. Mark knows this because Joe had sent this photo to the group chat, a long time ago, for Jos’ birthday. Joe has jumped onto Jos’ back and is clutching around his chest tightly, while the keeper has gotten a hand around the younger’s thigh to steady them, mid giving someone, probably Mo or Jimmy, a hi-five. Joe looks so pleased, so proud, and Jos’ grin could light up the entire of Lancashire for a week straight. It’s so pure and childish and sweet. They look like childhood sweethearts.

The third one is a photo Mark hasn’t seen before. Jos is wearing a yellow bib and is in full sleeve practice gear, so he assumes that it was sometime early last year, in training before the World Cup. He assumes they were playing soccer, or rugby, or something of the sort, because they’re sprawled across the ground, both looking absolutely elated, half yelling and half grinning at each other. It’s so, light-heartedly intimate, that Mark has to give the phone back before he feels the urge to cradle it to his chest.

In none of these photos, does Jos even seem aware that he’s been photographed. Nor does he seem to care. He’s just, absorbed in the moment. Too busy appreciating it for what it's worth. 

But why would that mean he doesn’t like Joe?

**_ The magazine says that if a person likes you, they shouldn’t be able to look you in the eyes, and will actively try to avoid eye-contact. _ **

“Jos looks me in the eyes all the time.”

“You know- actually, that’s quite true. He doesn’t really look away from you.”

“Sigh, yet another requirement unfulfilled. Not surprised-”

“Joe that’s not what I meant. I really think-”

“Mark, next please.”

The pacer really really wants to argue. But, the look in his best friend’s eyes is enough to make him keep his mouth shut. 

It is true, Jos _barely ever_ looks away from Joe’s eyes. But, it’s not like that.

Mark has witnessed it, the way Jos always makes eye-contact with Joe, whether it’s before he’s going out to bat, or when he has just been dismissed. Or when they’re making decisions about field placements, or when one of them has to confirm or deny something at a presser. Or when they are figuring out where to go for dinner, when Joe is having a mild panic attack before captaining for a big match.

Jos never looks away from his eyes. And Mark is always nearby to notice. Because when Joe and Jos talk, or when they talk with their eyes, Jos never ever looks away.

It’s just. It’s not like how this magazine makes it sound.

**_ The magazine says that if a person likes you, they should touch you, but not too much. _ **

“Jos is always hugging me, and he’s always around Mark. It’s pretty clear that it’s all just, friendly.”

“Joe, he literally pushed everyone aside to get to you, at the end of that super over. Yeah, he may have gone to Jof first, but that’s because the kid needed it, he was actively searching for you.”

“First of all, he didn’t push anyone away. I was just the closest on the field. And regardless, it doesn’t mean anything. Jos is always flirtier with Ben anyway.”

“But isn’t that because B-”

“Mark. Jos just likes me as a friend. It’s nothing more than that. If you’re so sure of yourself, read the next one.” Joe hides his face completely under the covers to avoid any more conversation.

Okay. Look. Jos will always, without fail, be touching Joe in some way. Always. But it never looks friendly. Or cautious. Or even flirty. It never looks the same as when Jos hugs Morgs, or Ben, or Mark. There are subtle differences in the way he interacts with Joe. Subtle, to most people. But really obvious to Mark.

He remembers the time they had both been sick in South Africa. How before dinner, Jos had pulled the younger into his arms, fingers pressed softly against the flesh of his back, how he fit Joe’s head into the crook of his shoulder, and how they’d stood there, together, as people had brushed past them.

He was there, at the end of the Headingley Test, when Ben cut that ball away for four. Right there, as Joe crumbled into the floor, and Jos picked him up, let the younger cry into his shoulder, clutch at his shirt, fall apart in relief against his chest.

He had seen the way Jos brushed tears from his cheekbones after the first test at Edgbaston. How he held the younger up, protectively stood by him, and even, (maybe- Mark isn’t exactly sure) exchanged soft smiles with Tim Paine and Steve Smith as they had walked off hand-in-hand. Mark knows for sure, that Jos had followed that principle, wrapping his fingers around Joe’s, leading them back up to their room- from which Arctic Monkeys could be heard minutes later.

But, why would being around someone all the time, not be a sign for them liking you? This magazine makes no fucking sense. 

**_ The magazine says that if a person likes you, they should ignore you from time to time.  _ **

“Jos has never ignored me. Ever.”

“Okay but-”

“Literally never.”

It sounds odd, because, how does Jos have the damn time? Mark is genuinely curious. “Not even like, over text? What about that one time he didn’t respond to you on the group chat?”

“He messaged me.”

“Wait like-”

“He called me actually, gave me the instructions all the way to Manchester himself.”

“From Yorkshi-”

“Yorkshire all the way to Manchester.”

“Joe you do realise that’s something he’d do for-”

“Anyone, anyone he considers a friend. Yeah.”

“No-”

“Mark.” The stare he gets almost prompts him onto the next stupid thing the magazine has to say.

“Okay but, he’s never played like, hard to get?”

“The fuck are you talking about? Jos has never, in his life, intentionally or unintentionally, brushed me off, or taken too long to reply to me, or pushed me away for anyone else.

Now that he’s thinking about it, he has never seen Jos ignore Joe. Not even when Joe and Stu pranked him by switching all the contacts in his phone. Not even when Jos had gone through that awful breakup where he wouldn’t speak to _anyone._ He’d still texted Joe. And Mark swears he heard them on the phone together, one of the nights, Joe apologising for calling so early and missing their usual rendezvous time, but that he was just too tired to stay up. Mark swears, that it was Jos he was speaking to.

Every single time Joe walks into a room, if Jos is there, he’ll be the first to jump up and hug the younger or throw him a piece of whatever he’s eating, or just smile at him.

It still doesn’t really make sense. Because Jos doesn’t ignore Joe. But it’s not in the way the magazine describes it.

**_ The magazine says that if a person likes you, they should blush when you’re around.  _ **

“You and I both know this one’s a lost cause. Jos doesn’t blush when Benny smacks his ass. Or when Aggers says he’s the best cricketer in the world. Why would he blush around me, a friend?”

“You know, blushing generally means embarr-”

“Mark, will you quit bullshitting me? The pity in your voice really isn’t helping.”

“I’m just saying, that blushing doesn’t even mean anything. Woaksey blushes at literally everything, you don’t see everyone thinking that he’s in love with them.”

“No Mark, because he’s literally married to Jonny.”

“You know, Jos may not blush, but he smiles an awful lot.”

“That’s just who he is. Smiling, encouraging, loving, to everyone. I’m not special, Mark. The last one proves it indefinitely.”

The pacer looks very unconvinced.

Jos doesn’t blush when Joe’s around, sure. But Jos doesn’t really blush anyway. It’s more, like a blinding, gorgeous, satisfied smile. Whenever Joe walks into training half an hour late or stumbles into the dining hall, still rubbing sleep of his eyes. Or when Joe compliments Jos on a shot or shoulder-checks him after a good catch. Whether Joe is applauding from the balcony, or if they’ve just single-(double, really)-handedly saved a match and a series, or if they’ve just lost a test-match to Australia. Jos, will always be smiling if he’s looking at Joe.

Why doesn’t Joe see that? And why isn’t it one of these stupid fucking requirements?

**_ Finally, the most obvious sign. The thing that should give it all away. The magazine says that the person who likes you, should be nervous around you.  _ **

“Joe, this isn’t even something you can answer.”

“Jos is the picture of calm, steady, held nerve. I don’t make him nervous.”

“But Joe-”

“Mark seriously. You read it. It’s logical. These are pretty basic signs that someone likes you. Jos doesn’t do any of this and I never really had a chance in the first place. I let myself get swept up-”

There’s a choked gasp from someone, that isn’t Mark, and isn’t Joe.

“Fuck.” There’s a guilty expression on the pacer’s face. Joe looks at him calculatingly.

He reaches into his pocket, where his phone has been this entire time, and then hands it to Joe, who looks at it in terror. His thumb hovers right over the _end call_ button. Mark has been on the phone, with _Morgan_ this whole time. _Eoin_ , their captain. _Morgs,_ who is rooming with Jos. Joe stands up, eyes glazing over, mouth going dry, and throat closing in on itself. He jabs the button down in panic. Before he can turn around to scream at Mark or throw himself out of their window, Jos has flown into the room and wrapped the younger in his arms.

“You don’t make me nervous.” The blonde wicketkeeper’s voice is raw with emotion, and he looks like he’s been through it.

Joe is barely able to breathe, overwhelmed by a nasty combination of panic and anxiety. Jos doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch, isn’t phased in the slightest. He just does what he always does. Makes everything _okay._ He puts one of the younger’s hands between their chests, over his own heart, tucks Joe’s head under his chin. While they breathe together, Joe slowly being able to return to his normal respiration, Jos keeps talking.

“We do, have a lot of photos together. They’re all over my apartment, my phone, in my camera, on my laptop. They’re memories. Important ones. And I always look you in the eye. When you’re talking, or when we’re near each other. How could I pass up an opportunity to look into your beautiful sky-blue eyes? And I can’t help myself, because I always want to touch you. When you’re upset, or happy, or just, there, I always want to be close to you because you just fit against me. I could never ignore you, not even if I wanted to. Never. You’re too happy, too sunshiny, too alluring, for me to pretend like you don’t exist. I don’t blush when I’m around you, because nothing you say makes me embarrassed. Everything you do or say is intelligent and respectful and I don’t blush because it’s always all true. And no, no you don’t make me nervous. I’m never nervous around you because you make me feel as though I don’t need to be.”

Jos’ hand is still wrapped around Joe’s fingers, and their joined digits are still pressed against where Jos’ heart would be.

“The reason, I’m never nervous, is because I know that no matter the result, regardless of the critics' comments, irrespective of what is going on in the world, you make me feel safe. Joey, these things, these requirements, are only that signs someone _might_ like you. You must know by now, I don’t _just_ like you.”

Joe’s body slumps against his, and Jos’ hands fly around his waist, gripping tighter, catching him and holding him tightly. Jos picks him up, and deposits him on the bed softly, as though he’s fragile and precious. Mark is still standing to the side, and Morgs had walked in almost immediately after Jos had bashed the door in. The two may or may not have tears in their eyes as they leave, closing the door softly so as to not disturb the calm Jos had fought so hard to regain.

“Joey? Are you okay?”

“I love you. You have to- you have to know as well. I love you so much.”

“I know.” Jos holds his chin softly “Don’t doubt me.”

“You know I couldn’t.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“Come here?” Jos sits back against the headboard and holds his hands out in invitation. Joe all but dives into his arms, burying his face into the keeper’s shoulder, entwining their legs as he leaves a soft press of his lips against the muscle. "Panic attack over baby? Are you feeling any better?” The younger nods against his collarbone. Jos repeats his earlier action, bringing Joe’s hand to his chest, rising and falling with each breath.

“That was the fastest I’ve ever managed it. Thank you. You always know what to do.”

“Only for you. Call it lover’s intuition.”

“Stay?”

“If you’ll have me. Mark is gonna room with Morgs tonight. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Just for the record, that magazine sucks.”

“I can’t believe, you thought, for a single second, that I didn’t love you.”

“I hate women’s magazines.”

“You and every woman alive. They’re awful and sexist, and fake, and terrible for self-esteem.” Joe chuckles softly at the look of absolute disgust on the keeper’s face.

“Will you tell me again?”

“I love you, darling.”

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that.” 

“I’ll never get tired of saying it.”

“Jos?”

“Yeah, sunshine?”

“Will you kiss me goodnight?”

A beautiful smile makes its way onto the keeper’s face. With Joe still bundled in his arms, he doesn’t need to reach too far to place a soft peck into the younger boy’s hair.

“Josssss.” It sounds like a three-year-old’s petulant whine, that fact that it’s accompanied with a pout too, doesn’t help.

He leans down again, kissing the smaller blonde’s nose, cheekbone, temple, and nipping at his ear.

“I’m so lucky to have you,” is the last thing Jos says before he presses his lips against Joe’s.

It’s soft. Sweet. Saccharinely so. Full of love and relief and long-awaited bliss. It’s not awkward, and it’s not vulgar. It’s nothing short of perfection, and it calms Joe’s heart down more than anything in his life ever has. He feels his fingers cling to Jos’ shirt, and he can feel the other boy’s heartbeat again, perfectly level, not beating out of control, not erratically thumping out of his chest. Time doesn’t stand still, life doesn’t stop. It’s as if, everything is just as it’s meant to be. There’s a new cliché for the books.

“Not as lucky as I am to have you.”

“You will never be able to convince me of that.”

“I have our entire lifetime to try.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HERE ARE THE DAMN PHOTOS THEY'RE IN LOVE OKAY 

1\. https://www.instagram.com/p/BQdQIxvAOMf/ (ICC WT20 2016, posted on Jos' Instagram - really, Jos, be more obvious i dare you)

2\. <https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/joe-root-rides-on-jos-buttler-of-england-after-the-news-photo/1059482506> (the caption of this photo on google says: joe root rides on jos buttler of England after... - SOMEONE TELL THEM TO JUST COME OUT WITH IT ALREADY) 

3\. THIS PHOTO IS THE REASON I CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT. IT MAKES ME HAPPY, EVERY SINGLE TIME IM SAD.


End file.
